Environment & Science

A heat wave so bad, it burned leaves off SoCal trees

The Los Angeles skyline is seen through burned trees on Dec. 14, 2017, after a brush fire erupted in the hills in Elysian Park in Los Angeles. This summer, it's extreme heat, not fire, that's scorching trees around Southern California.
Damian Dovarganes/AP

Last month's record-breaking heat wave left a wave of destruction in inland Southern California. Marijuana plants wilted. Avocado trees turned brown and their leaves died. And flowers were sunburned. This is what extreme heat does can do to plants, and it's likely to happen more often.